After glancing at Yellow, Ace roughly gauged the time. Leaving Viridian Forest, Ace headed straight for Pallet Town.
Ace slowly descended outside Professor Oak's Research Lab in Pallet Town, which was nearing completion. After recalling his Crobat, Ace knocked on the lab door.
"Who is it?"
A slightly younger female voice, different from Professor Oak's, answered. The lab door opened.
"Green?"
Ace was momentarily stunned, then calmly asked Green, "Why are you here? Where's Professor Oak?"
"Professor Oak is looking after the Pokémon. Come on in," Green smiled slightly at Ace, opening the door and gesturing for him to enter.
Ace nodded and followed Green into the lab.
Ace and Green weren't very familiar. Their only previous meeting was in Saffron City, where they worked together against Team Rocket. However, their main focus then was Team Rocket, so they didn't really communicate; it was just a brief encounter.
This was their second meeting, but this time, both felt something different. With just a glance, they could sense that the other was like them—pitiable individuals desperately trying to survive.
Compared to Ace, who was abandoned by his parents and had to make his own way, Green's experiences were no less challenging. As a child, she was captured by Ho-Oh, enslaved and trained by Pryce, and later dragged a two-year-younger Silver to escape from that hellish place.
After escaping, Green's life revolved around four main goals: survival, finding the people who kidnapped them, finding her parents, and taking care of Silver. For two years, Green, with no one's help, cared for Silver while searching for clues. One could only imagine the hardships this nine-year-old girl endured.
Thus, compared to other Pokedex holders, Green matured much faster. In Pokémon battles, she would resort to any means necessary, even using her "charm" to battle at such a young age. When Ace read the manga and saw Green's method of hiding Poké Balls in her chest, he was stunned.
So Green was actually very strong, not in formal battles, but in actual combat scenarios, her battle-readiness was formidable. Ace had learned a lot from Green. For instance, he kept Mewtwo's Poké Ball inside his windbreaker, right over his heart. If anyone were to try and stab Ace's heart, they would first pierce Mewtwo's Poké Ball. Then, the opponent would face a rampaging Mewtwo.
"Ace, I heard you're not from Kanto, is that right?" Green asked Ace, turning back to him as she led him inside. "How's Sinnoh?"
"It's alright," Ace replied calmly, with little emotion on his face. "Just a bit dangerous."
"Oh, then you must have had it tough," Green turned back, hinting at something. "Professor Oak said you're the smartest among us. I have a question I'd like to ask you."
"If I help you find that bird, will you help me find someone, too? How about that?" Ace sighed inwardly. Compared to old schemers like Pryce and Steven Stone, Green was still too green. After just a few sentences, Ace knew what Green wanted to say.
Green turned around, leaning forward, her eyes looking up into Ace's. After observing him closely for a while, Green smiled and said, "As expected, I wasn't wrong. You're just like me."
"That's right," Ace nodded, not hiding his appreciation for Green in his eyes.
"Clap, clap."
Ace and Green simultaneously pulled out a slip of paper from their pockets and handed them to each other. It was somewhat unexpected, yet entirely reasonable.
Ace opened the slip of paper. It had Green's phone number on it. Green opened her slip of paper; it contained not only Ace's phone number but also his address in Kanto.
"A rich person," Green mumbled, then put the slip away. Ace also put his slip away. The two walked out the back door of the lab and arrived at the Pokémon pasture behind it.
Professor Oak was feeding the Pokémon. Seeing Ace and Green approach together, he stood up and waved at them. Ace and Green quickly walked over. As Ace reached Professor Oak, he immediately said, "Professor Oak, Agatha is your old friend, right?"
Professor Oak was taken aback by Ace's directness, but he nodded after he recovered. After all, Ace had seen that photo.
"She's in great danger right now, and she's planning something. From her claiming to be one of the Elite Four, there should be three other accomplices."
Professor Oak was bewildered, and even Green, standing beside him, was bewildered. Was Ace stupid? To directly reveal the situation of the Elite Four?
Of course not!
Ace felt that instead of being caught off guard, it was better to reveal the matter, to minimize losses as much as possible. Ace felt that it was better to be stable than to wait for the protagonist group to burst out. It was better to prepare and accumulate strength, then strike with one punch and directly stun the Elite Four.
"Is the information reliable?" Professor Oak frowned. In his impression, although Agatha had disputes with him, she hadn't made any extreme moves. Ace's words clearly classified Agatha as an evil force.
"I fought her," Ace didn't answer Professor Oak's question but calmly stated, "One-on-one, I can defeat her, but now she's controlling a large number of Ghost-type Pokémon. Seeing the situation was bad, I ran away."
Ace's words made Professor Oak frown.
If she was just purely hostile to him and vented her anger on Pokedex holders, Professor Oak would understand. But Agatha controlling a large number of Ghost-type Pokémon, that was a bit problematic.
Should he notify the League to suppress her?
Of course not!
Agatha, after all, was his friend from his youth. Even if Agatha didn't acknowledge this friendship, Professor Oak still held it in his heart. Notifying the League to suppress Agatha, while simple and effective, would lead to consequences that Agatha wouldn't be able to bear!
"Sigh, you're already so old, why are you still causing trouble? And you want me to clean up your mess, this is a mess..." Professor Oak sighed inwardly, then looked up at Ace and said, "Don't tell anyone else about this for now. I'll find someone to handle it."
Ace nodded, confirming that Professor Oak intended to protect Agatha. After all, she was his old friend; Professor Oak still cherished that old friendship.
After exchanging pleasantries with Professor Oak and having a meal at his place, Ace and Green finally left Professor Oak's Research Lab.
"So, you want me to investigate the Elite Four?" Green, dressed in a black dress, asked Ace as they walked out of the lab, reaching up to tuck a wind-blown strand of hair behind her ear.
"Help me find Bruno of the Elite Four. I want to see how strong I am now." Ace looked at Green, describing Bruno's appearance to her, then smiled slightly, "I'll help you find that big bird. How about you come to my place in a week?"
Green nodded. Then, the two released their respective flying Pokémon and headed their separate ways from Professor Oak's Research Lab.